This article originally appeared in the magazine, Search Marketing Standard, November 21, 2013 Editor’s Note – Usability plays huge part in the success of your website, but it’s often given way too little attention in the rush to get a website live. A webmaster may think that if a user is really interested in the product or service, they will struggle through whatever usability challenges are in their way in order to make their purchase. Alas, that is far from reality. Even small barriers in the way of stress-free purchase can cause a potential buyer to abandon the site and look for another business from which to buy. Furthermore, that tipping point of abandonment can occur at any point along…

In July 2017 I traveled to Ohio on the invitation of well-known author, speaker and teacher, Matt Bailey of Site Logic Marketing to be interviewed on usability. Over several days we chatted about the old days of the Internet and our career involvement in the SEO and Usability industries. Matt creates easy listening podcasts. I was excited to be considered for his Endless Coffee Cup Podcast project. The result are a series of 4 or 5 podcasts. The conversation is relaxed, fun, and educational. If you own a website or work on one, you may find many ideas and inspiration. The following are the first released in a series of podcast discussions usability, web design, SEO, accessibility, testing and more…

Keyword searches and browsing strategies tracked by analytics may be frustrating because searchers can’t be counted on to behave as you want them to. Humans are unpredictable and spontaneous, and trying to plan to rank in the top position on a topic for unpredictable people is not something I ever thought was rewarding. Making the landing stick, however, is. An eight-year research study of a software tool created for educators found that of the three types of ways their users searched for information, it was the case studies that were the most sought after. Not the keyword matches. Not browsing patterns. They watched how teachers searched for information and what they wanted most were actual stories of experiences, or case…

Google has figured how to perform remote viewing and knows what I’m doing, while Bing is completely out of touch with reality. The painstaking work by SEO’s performing keyword research has intrigued me ever since Google came along to kick its competition out of the pool, creating competitive war games for top positions in search engine results. Unpredictable Search Engine Playbook Changes It is this search engine playbook that SEO’s grabble with. Copyright ezplayz.com Have you ever seen a football team’s playbook? Each page has a plan, with arrows, numbers, rules and code names to be memorized by the team. Headphone wearing, yelling Coaches call out the secret names and if all goes according to plan, everyone will remember what to…